Say you don't know me, or recognize my links, say you don't care who surfs to that kind of tab ...
As if Talarico’s campaign isn’t already having a bad day, a New York Times report released Sunday says dozens of TikTok accounts were paid $4 per 1,000 views to post positive clips about him. The company behind the payments is Frontier Media. Naturally his campaign says it had nothing to do with it. The money Frontier Media used to pay for pro-Talarico social content had to come from somewhere. These paid “clippers” weren’t a tiny side effort. They accounted for nearly a quarter of the Talarico-related videos the Times looked at in a 24-hour window. The money’s source is still unclear and Frontier Media has no visible FEC filings. The campaign’s denial is noted, but the volume of paid content is not. Follow the money is the obvious course of action. Between today’s blockbuster mental health facility claims and now this NYT article on paid support for Talarico, it’s unthinkable that his campaign survives the week let alone a debate or election. Organic support is one thing. A network of accounts getting paid by the view to flood the platform with positive clips is another. Voters can tell the difference. The appearance of a spontaneous online army collapses once the payments are documented. That’s what the Times just did. It should be mentioned that a man in the U.S. just got sentenced to jail for artificially creating consumption of his AI songs on streaming services. There should be similar penalties for artificially creating support for a political candidate, without disclosing it, on social media. The fraud is for profit. In the streaming case financially, in the Talarico case politically and also financially. Both are clearly immoral and should be criminal.
— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) October 11, 2026
These paid “clippers” weren’t a tiny side effort. They accounted for nearly a quarter of the Talarico-related videos the Times looked at in a 24-hour window. The money’s source is still unclear and Frontier Media has no visible FEC filings. The campaign’s denial is noted, but the volume of paid content is not. Follow the money is the obvious course of action. Between today’s blockbuster mental health facility claims and now this NYT article on paid support for Talarico, it’s unthinkable that his campaign survives the week let alone a debate or election.
Organic support is one thing. A network of accounts getting paid by the view to flood the platform with positive clips is another. Voters can tell the difference. The appearance of a spontaneous online army collapses once the payments are documented. That’s what the Times just did.
Ed: There's nothing illegal about this, but it's still astroturfing, by definition. This isn't grassroots; it's paid content. This isn't as scandalous as going missing from the campaign for nearly two weeks without a believable explanation, but it's not good either.
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NY Times: The Times found dozens of accounts on TikTok that were paid $4 per 1,000 views to post positive clips about Mr. Talarico, according to a job posting and online records of creators who accepted the job. Mr. Talarico’s campaign said it was not involved in paying creators. The company claiming responsibility for the payments, Frontier Media, could not be reached for comment.
Clippers have posted nonstop about Mr. Talarico, flooding the Texas algorithm for users seeking information about the race. They accounted for nearly a quarter of the videos posted within the 24-hour window reviewed by The Times.
Mr. Talarico’s personal account was among the most-viewed: It has more than 2 million followers, and his videos frequently earn hundreds of thousands of views, including this post featuring an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, the talk show host.
Mr. Paxton’s official account, meanwhile, has just over 3,000 followers. In addition to attacks on Mr. Talarico, his videos describe his views on election security and show him knocking on doors to reach voters. Yet his most-seen post — showing Vice President JD Vance — has just over 120,000 views.
Ed: Does this mean anything? Perhaps less than it appears. TikTok appeals to the youngest demos in the electorate, demos which would already be inclined to support Democrats. Paxton doesn't seem to be spending too much time on it for that reason. It's very interesting, though, that Talarico's campaign is spending money here rather than on TV ads and personal appearances in most of Texas. Young voters will not determine the outcome of the race; the over-40s will, and they're not on TikTok.
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Jacqueline and the NYT have tracked down a disputed bakery bill from 6 years ago…but let James Talarico disappear this month for 12 days with no curiosity. Journalism is dead.
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) October 11, 2026
Ed: My X/Twitter mentions got filled up with progressive trolls who wanted to make sure that I knew Talarico had gone missing for nine days rather than 13. I imagine Ric got some of the same trolling. The 13-day count was from Talarico's last public in-person appearance on September 26 to his walkabout at the Austin City Limits festival on Friday; they count it from Talarico's brief Zoom appearance on September 30. Either way, the man disappeared for more than a week, supposedly because of the "flu," in the middle of a Senate campaign. And as Ric says, the media evinced nearly no interest in that story, but unpaid baker bills from 2020 is a national scandal? Puh-leeeze.
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Daily Mail: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani sparked fresh anger amongst the city's Italian-American population after declining to attend the city's annual Columbus Day parade.
The 34-year-old Democratic Socialist was a no-show over the weekend as New Yorkers across the five boroughs celebrated the Italian explorer's arrival in the Americas in 1492.
And his disappearing act will continue into Monday, with a spokesperson confirming to the Daily Mail that he would not be at today's Manhattan parade.
He previously made his thoughts known on Columbus in 2020 when he posted an image of himself giving the finger to a statue of the explorer, writing 'take it down.'
Ed: I get why they're unhappy, but would they have wanted him there in the first place? Mamdani doesn't appear concerned about winning a second term in office, although the rest of us remain concerned that he won the first time.
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Here is the official website of the Muslim Brotherhood celebrating Abdul El-Sayed. Their article is titled "Abdul Rahman al-Sayyid conquers the Zionists and runs for the Senate" https://t.co/PqGJ1Nc5V8
— Senate Republicans (@NRSC) October 11, 2026
Ed: You can take the boy out of the Muslim Brotherhood, but you can't take the Muslim Brotherhood out of the boy. I wrote more about this story this afternoon. It's good to see the NRSC keeping the pressure on El-Sayed, and Mike Rogers is going after him hammer and tongs on these ties. I'd expect that messaging to intensify over the next three weeks, but the fact that Meet the Press felt obliged to address it shows that it's become a real issue for Democrats.
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Axios: President Trump has privately shared misgivings about livestreaming the firing-squad execution of a former Army major who murdered 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas, according to four people who have spoken with the president.
Why it matters: Trump has been deluged with "negative input" about the idea from a bipartisan chorus of lawmakers as well as advisers inside and outside of his White House, a senior administration official said.
A livestream of former Army Maj. Nidal Hasan's execution on Dec. 3 "might not happen," Trump told one confidant, who doesn't work in the administration and shared the comment with Axios.
"He didn't sound particularly enthusiastic" about webcasting the execution, the source said. "That's why he's calling around, doing the Trump thing, asking people what they think."
Ed: I'm far more supportive of the execution than I am live-streaming it. I don't think it will energize our jihadi enemies, who are energized enough at our mere existence, but I doubt it would have any deterrent value for the same reason, too. I believe it will give Hasan exactly what he wanted – attention – and why go out of our way to reward him? Execute him, cremate the remains, and scatter the ashes quietly to prevent any effort to create a shrine to his Islamist impulses. That's more than sufficient, and then we can let his name pass into oblivion. That'll be justice.
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🚨 JUST IN: President Trump alludes to possibly appointing Ron DeSantis to a CABINET POSITION “I like him a lot!” I’m ALL for this. Ron DeSantis is one of the best executives in America, and his term is up in just months. https://t.co/o8NpzPTIQq
— Eric Trump 🇺🇸 (@Eric_TrumpRv) October 11, 2026
Ed: DeSantis leaves office in two months, give or take. Would he want to hold off and run for president? Perhaps, but the GOP primary is shaping up as a fight between Vance and Rubio, assuming Rubio can be convinced to run. DeSantis might have some interest in taking a high-profile administration role to keep up his relevance. We'll see what comes open, and more importantly, whether the GOP has enough seats in the Senate to confirm new appointees after the first of the year. Maybe DeSantis can take over FEMA ...
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Mostly Peaceful by Julio Rosas: Governor Ron DeSantis’ administration staging the linemen had once again paid off. The vast majority of Floridians who lost power are expected to have it restored by the end of today.
After Isaias was gone, DeSantis was on the ground in the affected areas to hear from locals and officials on what they needed and to provide updates on the state’s efforts. In what has become a staple visit during these times, DeSantis held a press conference outside a Waffle House that was bustling with customers.
Since this appears to be the last hurricane DeSantis will experience as governor, I asked him what advice he would give to the next governor on how to maintain the fast recovery time his administration has become known for.
“A lot of people in this state don’t give a rip about what anyone does in Tallahassee, they just want to be left alone. Don’t do any policies that are going to hurt them…But the one time where they want to see some positive action is in some of these disaster situations,” DeSantis explained.
“This is just a core function of what you have to do, I think, as an executive and as a leader,” he added.
Ed: DeSantis has always demonstrated radical competence. What government shouldn't do it should steer well clear, but what it should do it should do expertly. That kind of radical competence is rare.
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WaPo reports that the federal criminal fraud investigation investigation into Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is called “World War 11”, an apparent reference to a recent comment Omar made when she said the Alien Enemies Act hadn’t been used since “World War Eleven”. https://t.co/wKj1XEBGkM
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) October 12, 2026
Ed: And this highlights radical incompetence! It might make it easier for a federal judge to conclude that this is a politicized investigation down the road, although it notably didn't prevent a judge from signing the search warrant.
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The Hollywood Reporter: Comedy is about pushing boundaries, and Gillis is really good at that. His substantial, Guinness Book-sized audience is anti-woke, which is actually a pretty logical (though rare) position for comedians. The same material would probably kill with a Gillis crowd, though those probably do not have a ton of crossover with your average SNL viewer.
It wasn’t just the wrong place for the joke — it was decidedly the wrong time. Women wearing what some people consider especially-revealing clothing in the gym is in no way a new observation inside or outside of the comedy community. The “fake bait” line is a good one, but really not enough to justify the bit. Gillis’ “filming” tag makes the concept a bit more timely — self-recording in public gyms really is pervasive and invasive — and Gillis ultimately makes himself the butt of the joke, but the material was still misplaced.
Gillis, of course, knows all of this — he just doesn’t care. That’s his brand. He dropped an F-bomb (since edited out) later in the episode and laughed it off. Two of the three times Gillis has hosted Saturday Night Live he’s worn just a black t-shirt for the monologue (and the middle time he work a black jacket over a black t-shirt). Gillis is a casual dude (emphasis on the “dude”) who does not conform to your social norms and wants everyone to know it. He’s a blue-collar guy who allows you to assume he votes red — that is, until Gillis finally cleared that air (a bit) on Rogan’s podcast. Gillis has more intelligence and self-awareness than he lets on — what you see is what he wants you to see.
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Reminder: Legacy Media outlets were key contributors to Cancel Culture/Woke They don't respect artistic freedom. They want to silence any voice that flirts with the center-Right
— Christian Toto (@HollywoodInToto) October 12, 2026
Ed: You have to give Lorne Michaels credit for putting Gillis into the host role more than once, however. Whatever other complaints can be made here, canceling doesn't count among them. Maybe Michaels is getting sick of woke, too. Or maybe he's just nostalgic for the days when SNL actually mattered.
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Trump Tells Liberals Uncomfortable With Public Execution To Just Imagine It's A Healthcare CEO https://t.co/1QVONVPI1h
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) October 12, 2026
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Saturday's lyric: "Love Is a Battlefield" by Pat Benatar. I did women rockers all week last week; not sure if anyone picked up on that. Tonight's is a reference to a John Ondrasik thread today ...
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